Rams: Belgian vs German, etc

What is the temperature of your water?

He does need feeding up a bit too so probably he is just a little weak from the move. They can take up to a week to really acclimatise to the new surroundings - they need to feel safe and calm in their environment before they will properly relax.

Keep an eye on them and feed smaller amounts more frequently for the next few days - you don't want to suddenly have him eating loads in one go.

It can help to keep the lights off for a couple of days. First we'll check your water parameters and temperature.
 
temp is 79F, 26C. Has been since they came home.
Big 3 are 0, 0, 5
water is soft-ish
I increase the feeding a bit -- the pm you sent me on the other forum suggests that you feed quite a lot more than I have been -- guess I'm always thinking about the rule "don't over feed" so I maybe didn't feed enough? I'll increase, watch the fish, watch the water...

thanks again for sharing what you know
 
Hi Canuck, that's a 25 gallon tank?

From a couple of my earlier posts (this thread):

Blairo said:
Bolivian Rams work well in groups as they are a very social fish, but they can also be kept simply as pairs and if the male is not too aggressive, in a 1m/2f group. I would recommend a minimum of 30 gallons for a pair or trio, the space is good for them. They can tolerate a pH of between 5 and 7.8, but I wouldn't recommend keeping them in a pH of lower than 6 or above 7.6. Temperature ranges of 26-28C.
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You can keep up to 5 in a 30 gallon tank in a 2m/3f group, as long as you don't have a hyper territorial male (which I do) and as long as you keep a close eye on them. However I and several others feel that it is better to have AT LEAST a 40 gallon tank for a group of 5.

In a 30 gallon, if you wanted a larger group, I would recommend only ONE male and 4 females (one will eventually be removed). Obviously in getting a larger group you also increase your chances of finding the m/f ratio's you want and can then remove one that doesn't fit (hence why you get 4 instead of 3). In this stocking ratio you will see interesting group interactions and it's very interesting to watch the fish and learn their hierarchical order, it also means that aggression is better dispersed at times when breeding becomes an incentive (for them, not you lol).
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.....you need to make sure there is plenty of cover in the form of driftwood and vegetation (even if it is fake) and not overly harsh lighting, if you have quite bright lighting then increase the density of their cover - these fish will show you much nice colouration if given the right conditions.

The main reason you want more cover, particularly with just a pair, is that you are more likely to experience breeding. Male Bolivian Rams can be relentless when wanting to spawn and if the female is not up to it or not yet ready she can get worn down. So in that tank you would need to keep a closer eye on them, on the whole though they'll get on swimmingly, you may only occasionally find that you need to move the male into a naughty box (floating fry refugiums work well as they obviously let tank water flow through, whilst keeping the male separated).

During this time you would get the female fed up and conditioned for spawning so that she has the strength and "resources" to both put up with the male and mate with him.

I keep my spawning pair in a 30 gallon tank with a few Lamp Eye Panchax as dithers and they get on great, I do have a very hyper-territorial male though (which is rare don't worry) so I have to be particularly attentive to the female in-between spawns, still, even in my circumstance I very rarely have to separate the two.
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The name Mikro-geo-phagus translates roughly to Small, Earth, Eater - they sift sand just like Geophagus. When spawning they also dig pits in the sand to act as fry nurseries etc so you do really see much more natural behaviour over sand.
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Switching to sand is always a good start, I recommend a substrate that isn't too light - white sand will cause them to appear "washed out" quite a lot and the darker sand hides them, I go for a nice natural colour. Driftwood is another recommendation - it's a great and easy way to break up the lines of sight, provide them with spawning sites, provide them with plenty of cover and also provide shelter from overhead lighting in times where they feel stressed, or are trying to raise fry. Bolivians don't like overly bright lighting and will again appear washed out unless they have plenty of areas of shade/cover etc. It can also cause problems with their egg development and later on their fry development, hence why I recommend driftwood for easy shade etc.
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In a 25 gallon tank you could get away with a pair if you take heed of what I mention in the quotations above. Add to that a few cories, dithers, algae eaters and a small growing pleco, that'd make a nice tank. If you're really interested I recommend you check out the Bolivian Ram club thread I pointed FishBliss to:

http://cichlid-forum.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=138543&highlight=

It's a long read, but everything you could possibly need to know is in there.

HTH.

Blair.
 
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Thanks, sorry for being lazy :) . The tank is probably a 33 based on height (I understand no difference for this case). I just didn't notice a reference to tank footprint and I'm not adept at relating size of tank to footprint. Very informative thread by the way! Nice to see someone really interested in keeping a species, it seems so many people keep switching out fish species over short periods and really don't get the opportunity to study the fish over its full life cycle.
 
And a lovely girl she is, too. :)

I'm liking sand more and more as a substrate the more I see photos of it in use.
 
This play sand turned out to have a slight pinkish cast to it once it was in the tank -- which I am extremely pleased with. It was $5 for 50 lb. One of the most affordable things I've done to my tank so far! haha
 
Looks awesome! I want to get some rams of some sort for my 26 gallon.

I was at the LFS tonight and they had Blue Rams for $13, not too bad.

I think I need to get some drift wood.
 
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